Federal

Major Richard Star Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,774 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill expands which military retirees can receive both veterans disability compensation (money the government pays to veterans with service-related disabilities) and military retired pay at the same time. Specifically, it allows certain disabled retirees who left the military with fewer than 20 years of service to receive both payments without the disability payment reducing their retired pay.

Who It Affects

Military retirees who were discharged or retired under chapter 61 (medical or disability reasons) with fewer than 20 years of creditable service and who are eligible for combat-related special compensation (extra pay for service members disabled by combat).

Key Provisions

* Retired military members who are retired due to disability under chapter 61 with fewer than 20 years of service can now receive combat-related special compensation without having their military retired pay reduced (Sec. 2(a)). * The law updates the official section heading and table of contents to clarify that this applies to "members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans' disability compensation" (Sec. 2(b)). * The bill removes outdated provisions about a phase-in period that is no longer needed (Sec. 2(b)(3)).

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, certain disabled military retirees with fewer than 20 years of service will receive full combat-related special compensation payments without automatic reduction of their military retired pay. This means they keep both payments in full rather than having one payment reduced by the other.

Important Definitions

* Chapter 61 retirement: Medical or disability discharge from the military before completing 20 years of service. * Combat-related special compensation: Extra pay given to service members disabled during combat. * Concurrent receipt: Receiving two payments at the same time without one reducing the other.

Effective Date

The changes take effect on the first day of the first month after the bill becomes law and apply to all payments made in months after that date.

IB Union Calendar No. 117 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1282 [Report No. 118–149, Part I] To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand eligibility to certain military retirees for concurrent receipt of veterans’ disability compensa- tion and retired pay or combat-related special compensation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 1, 2023 Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. KEATING, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. POSEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. GAETZ, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. TITUS, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. FINSTAD, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. COHEN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. SALAZAR, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. FALLON, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. OMAR, Mr. KELLY of Mis- sissippi, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. ROSS, Mr. BERA, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. TONKO, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIG- GINS of Louisiana, Mr. GUEST, Mr. ELLZEY, Mr. CLINE, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. PHIL- LIPS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. CAREY, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. PFLUGER, Ms. DE LA CRUZ, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. HAGEMAN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1282 RH CASTEN, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. DUNN of Florida, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. CHU, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. D’ESPOSITO, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. CROW, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. BARR, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. BACON, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Ms. MANNING, Ms. PEREZ, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. POCAN, Mr. LUTTRELL, Ms. MENG, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. TIFFANY, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. RUPPERS- BERGER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. SANTOS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Ms. WILD, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California, Mr. ZINKE, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Mr. COLE, Mr. TIMMONS, Ms. PORTER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GOODEN of Texas, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MILLS, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. GREENE of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. GRANGER, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LALOTA, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mrs. CAMMACK) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1282 RH JULY 18, 2023 Additional sponsors: Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. VAN ORDEN, Mr. EZELL, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. CARL, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. CARAVEO, Mr. TURNER, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. PELTOLA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. VAN DREW, Mrs. KIM of California, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. YAKYM, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. LUCAS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CASE, Mrs. MCCLELLAN, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. ISSA, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Ms. BROWN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MORAN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. STANTON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MFUME, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. GIMENEZ, Mr. VASQUEZ, Mr. FROST, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. WILLIAMS of New York, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. MACE, Mrs. LUNA, Mr. PENCE, Ms. LETLOW, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. FRY, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. HIMES, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. KILEY, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. BANKS, Mr. IVEY, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia, Mr. NAD- LER, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. ALFORD, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. JAMES, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mr. BEYER, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. PLASKETT, and Mrs. BICE JULY 18, 2023 Reported from the Committee on Armed Services with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] JULY 18, 2023 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 1, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1282 RH A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand eligibility to certain military retirees for concurrent receipt of vet- erans’ disability compensation and retired pay or combat- related special compensation, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 1282 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Major Richard Star 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPANSIONS OF ELIGIBILITY TO CERTAIN MILITARY 6 RETIREES FOR CONCURRENT RECEIPT OF 7 VETERANS’ DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND 8 RETIRED PAY OR COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL 9 COMPENSATION. 10 (a) INCLUSION OF CHAPTER 61 DISABILITY RETIREES 11 WITH FEWER THAN 20 YEARS OF SERVICE WHO ARE ELI- 12 GIBLE FOR COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL COMPENSATION.— 13 Section 1413a(b)(3) of title 10, United States Code, is 14 amended— 15 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘In’’ and 16 inserting ‘‘Subject to subparagraph (B), in’’; and 17 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘In the 18 case of’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘The re- 19 tired pay of an eligible combat-related disabled uni- 20 formed services retiree, who is retired under chapter 21 61 of this title with fewer than 20 years of creditable 22 service, is not subject to reduction under sections 5304 23 and 5305 of title 38.’’. 24 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 1282 RH (1) SECTION HEADING.—The heading of section 1 1414 of such title is amended to read as follows: 2 ‘‘§ 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also 3 eligible for veterans’ disability compensa- 4 tion: concurrent receipt’’. 5 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The item relating to 6 such section 1414 in the table of sections at the begin- 7 ning of chapter 71 of such title is amended to read 8 as follows: 9 ‘‘1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans’ dis- ability compensation: concurrent receipt.’’. (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS REFLECTING END 10 OF CONCURRENT RECEIPT PHASE-IN PERIOD.—Such 11 section 1414 is further amended— 12 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 13 (i) by striking the second sentence; and 14 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 15 (B); 16 (B) by striking subsection (c) and redesig- 17 nating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) 18 and (d), respectively; and 19 (C) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by 20 striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this 22 section shall take effect on the first day of the first month 23 beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 1282 RH shall apply to payments for months beginning on or after 1 such date. 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No. 117 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1282 [Report No. 118–149, Part I] A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand eligibility to certain military retirees for concur- rent receipt of veterans’ disability compensation and retired pay or combat-related special com- pensation, and for other purposes. JULY 18, 2023 Reported from the Committee on Armed Services with an amendment JULY 18, 2023 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jul 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1282.RH H1282 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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